Everywhere, Everything. ★ STURNIOLO TRIPLETS

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

It was different this time.

Everything felt normal. Perfect. I was tucked beneath the safety of Matt's arm, his breath shallow and steady as he slept beside me. Sunlight trickled through the gaps in the blinds, casting buttery bars across the carpet. I blinked at the ceiling. Where were we?

In the distance a car horn bleated and a dog yapped in response. I shifted against Matt, making him moan quietly. He looked so peaceful. The pensive look on his face that I'd come to know was replaced with a calm stillness, tender and unguarded. I'd never seen him so delicate, so innocent. Gently I brushed a stray strand away from his forehead and his eyelids fluttered faintly.

The room we were in was unfamiliar. Strips of LED lights rimmed the perimeter of the ceiling, the off-white walls were canvassed in large, framed nature prints. A slender mirror hung across from the mattress. I squinted at our shapes - rippled and distorted.

Matt murmured into his pillow before raking the back of his hand over his eyes. I felt the moment his arm retracted from my waist.

"What are you doing here?" he rasped.

When I reached for his face, he recoiled into the mattress, opening up what felt like a canyon between us. I hesitated. "Wh-what's the matter?"

Alarm bells went off in my head. Every curve of his face became jagged and harsh, all of its previous tenderness now taut with tension. He was staring at me in a way that was all too similar to someone I never thought he'd remind me of, and it made a sickening pit open in my stomach. I moved to stand, pulling the navy sheet I'd been wrapped in close to my chest.

"Natalia, I asked what you were doing here?"

I could feel my pulse quicken, that familiar dizzying rush of panic shoot through my body. I opened my mouth to speak, but all that came out was a garbled sound like a choked cry and I reached for the nearest piece of furniture to steady myself.

"I told you what this was. We agreed," he growled.

I didn't know who I was staring at. This wasn't Matt, at least not the sensitive, "wake me up if you need me" Matt I knew. This was someone else entirely. His coastal eyes raged darker than I'd ever seen them.

"I-I don't -" I choked out, grasping at the mahogany dresser beside me. "I don't know what's happening."

Nothing felt stable. Not the dresser, not my breathing, not the floor I was desperately trying to keep from crumbling into. Short, erratic gasps left my lips and I swear to God I saw Matt roll his eyes.

"Matt, I -"

"Save it, Nat. You need to go. I don't want Nick and Chris to see you leaving. It's bad enough they know we're sleeping together, the last thing I want is for them to think there's anything more to this."

His voice was rough and cruel, making hot bile rise in the back of my throat. I stood there shaking violently, unable to catch my breath as the whole world began to crack. How could he say that to me? None of this made sense but my mind couldn't work through the hysteria building in my chest with each gasp for breath.

I squeezed my eyes shut. He doesn't mean it. He doesn't mean it. My lungs felt like they were going to rupture. Stumbling towards the door, I could hear Matt say, "I don't want you," and the last of my strength gave way.

I gasped myself awake.

Everything was dark and still. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the room, but once they did I could see the bends of the sheet hanging above me. I clutched desperately through the black.